Published: Monday, March 18, 2013 at 5:47 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, March 18, 2013 at 5:47 p.m.

Having your hand out for a handout alongside Marion County roads could again become illegal in most of Marion County.

The County Commission Tuesday will consider an ordinance designed to enhance traffic safety by banning roadside begging on all county roads.

Instead of posting themselves immediately along the curbs or medians, those folks seeking help from passing motorists would be forced at least 4 feet from the road under the proposed ordinance.

The measure is the commission's second attempt at controlling roadside begging. The first ordinance, passed in 2006, was abandoned after a federal judge opined that a homeless man who challenged it would have a strong chance of demonstrating that the local law violated his First Amendment rights.

The rationale behind the new ordinance, according to its language, is that the County Commission has determined that “physical interaction” between pedestrians and cars stopped at intersections “is inherently dangerous.”

Further, the combination of a high volume of traffic, congested roads and people who sit or stand next to or in the road, the medians, or the shoulders with the purpose of “engaging in any kind of physical exchange of objects” with drivers “is hazardous to public safety,” for both for those in the car and those soliciting.

According to County Attorney Guy Minter, however, the threat has yet to be documented, as far as the beggars are concerned.

“Based on information that I've seen so far, we have no record that panhandlers have been struck by cars” in Marion County, he said in an email.

While billed as a public safety measure, the proposed ordinance is mindful of the discomfort that beggars cause motorists who encounter them, even if there is no interaction.

It notes that drivers stopped a traffic signal feel that they become a “captive audience” that lacks the ability to evade people asking or their money.

The measure also says a ban is needed because there have been instances where solicitors “touch or bang” on the car or practice some undefined “threatening behavior” that makes drivers apprehensive or fearful.

Also, the risk of car wrecks goes up when such people are present because drivers might abruptly change lanes in order to avoid beggars, or because they become distracted from other vehicles or pedestrians, the ordinance states.

But the new prohibition extends beyond the range of the 2006 ordinance, which left the highways open to firefighters on foot seeking charitable contributions.

The measure being considered Tuesday bars the distribution of “materials, pamphlets, fliers or goods,” or “soliciting business or charitable contributions ... of any kind” from stopped motorists.

They, too, must remain 4 feet from the road.

The law does not prohibit such activities directed at pedestrians, nor the “lawful” presence of pedestrians at the side of the road.

Moreover, it does not address the possible distraction created by political activities, although that would appear to fall under the section outlawing the dispensing of “any kind” of materials.

The ordinance is based on a similar measure in Hillsborough County, which has banned the practice since 1991.

Minter has said that law was selected as a model because it has survived a constitutional test in federal court.

In 1995, U.S. District Judge Raymond Nimmons upheld the Hillsborough ordinance, which was challenged by a pair of Hare Krishnas who claimed their First Amendment rights to request donations as religious expression were infringed by the county's ban on roadside solicitation.

Nimmons dismissed the allegation, ruling that the county's no-exceptions clause covered all roadside soliciting. The judge further noted that creating a 4-foot-wide, solicitation-free swath beside the road was a legally balanced approach.

The ordinance, Nimmons wrote, “does not restrict more activity than is necessary to promote Hillsborough County's legitimate interest in safe, uncongested roads.”

Yet at least one critic sees a problem in such a wide-ranging ban.

In a public letter, Summerfield resident Patricia Reed, who challenged Commissioner Stan McClain last year as a write-in candidate, suggested that Marion County's “blanket approach” to combat a “habitual problem” would create a challenge from the other direction.

“Since Marion County cannot be punitive toward individual beggars to discourage habitual panhandling, the blanket approach is now under consideration for all who fall within the same category. The blanket approach is a government being lazy and not researching and scrutinizing the Florida Statute to come up with a more proper resolution for its citizens, and to settle the complaints that surround habitual panhandling,” she wrote.

“People that have charitable, religious and political values will have some of their freedoms forcefully taken away from them. Local government is not American if and when they do that.”

<p>Having your hand out for a handout alongside Marion County roads could again become illegal in most of Marion County.</p><p>The County Commission Tuesday will consider an ordinance designed to enhance traffic safety by banning roadside begging on all county roads.</p><p>Instead of posting themselves immediately along the curbs or medians, those folks seeking help from passing motorists would be forced at least 4 feet from the road under the proposed ordinance.</p><p>The measure is the commission's second attempt at controlling roadside begging. The first ordinance, passed in 2006, was abandoned after a federal judge opined that a homeless man who challenged it would have a strong chance of demonstrating that the local law violated his First Amendment rights.</p><p>The rationale behind the new ordinance, according to its language, is that the County Commission has determined that “physical interaction” between pedestrians and cars stopped at intersections “is inherently dangerous.”</p><p>Further, the combination of a high volume of traffic, congested roads and people who sit or stand next to or in the road, the medians, or the shoulders with the purpose of “engaging in any kind of physical exchange of objects” with drivers “is hazardous to public safety,” for both for those in the car and those soliciting.</p><p>According to County Attorney Guy Minter, however, the threat has yet to be documented, as far as the beggars are concerned.</p><p>“Based on information that I've seen so far, we have no record that panhandlers have been struck by cars” in Marion County, he said in an email.</p><p>While billed as a public safety measure, the proposed ordinance is mindful of the discomfort that beggars cause motorists who encounter them, even if there is no interaction.</p><p>It notes that drivers stopped a traffic signal feel that they become a “captive audience” that lacks the ability to evade people asking or their money.</p><p>The measure also says a ban is needed because there have been instances where solicitors “touch or bang” on the car or practice some undefined “threatening behavior” that makes drivers apprehensive or fearful.</p><p>Also, the risk of car wrecks goes up when such people are present because drivers might abruptly change lanes in order to avoid beggars, or because they become distracted from other vehicles or pedestrians, the ordinance states.</p><p>But the new prohibition extends beyond the range of the 2006 ordinance, which left the highways open to firefighters on foot seeking charitable contributions.</p><p>The measure being considered Tuesday bars the distribution of “materials, pamphlets, fliers or goods,” or “soliciting business or charitable contributions ... of any kind” from stopped motorists.</p><p>They, too, must remain 4 feet from the road.</p><p>The law does not prohibit such activities directed at pedestrians, nor the “lawful” presence of pedestrians at the side of the road.</p><p>Moreover, it does not address the possible distraction created by political activities, although that would appear to fall under the section outlawing the dispensing of “any kind” of materials.</p><p>The ordinance is based on a similar measure in Hillsborough County, which has banned the practice since 1991.</p><p>Minter has said that law was selected as a model because it has survived a constitutional test in federal court.</p><p>In 1995, U.S. District Judge Raymond Nimmons upheld the Hillsborough ordinance, which was challenged by a pair of Hare Krishnas who claimed their First Amendment rights to request donations as religious expression were infringed by the county's ban on roadside solicitation.</p><p>Nimmons dismissed the allegation, ruling that the county's no-exceptions clause covered all roadside soliciting. The judge further noted that creating a 4-foot-wide, solicitation-free swath beside the road was a legally balanced approach.</p><p>The ordinance, Nimmons wrote, “does not restrict more activity than is necessary to promote Hillsborough County's legitimate interest in safe, uncongested roads.”</p><p>Yet at least one critic sees a problem in such a wide-ranging ban.</p><p>In a public letter, Summerfield resident Patricia Reed, who challenged Commissioner Stan McClain last year as a write-in candidate, suggested that Marion County's “blanket approach” to combat a “habitual problem” would create a challenge from the other direction.</p><p>“Since Marion County cannot be punitive toward individual beggars to discourage habitual panhandling, the blanket approach is now under consideration for all who fall within the same category. The blanket approach is a government being lazy and not researching and scrutinizing the Florida Statute to come up with a more proper resolution for its citizens, and to settle the complaints that surround habitual panhandling,” she wrote.</p><p>“People that have charitable, religious and political values will have some of their freedoms forcefully taken away from them. Local government is not American if and when they do that.”</p><p><i>Contact Bill Thompson at 867-4117 or bill.thompson@starbanner.com</i></p>